Cozy Mystery Round Up
Every once in a while, I need the book equivalent of a freshly baked cookie, something light, fluffy and without much substance. The books that give me the best “cookie” vibes are almost always “cozy” murder mysteries, especially when they have a female detective.
I mean, when the world feels like it is ending, what could be better than reading about bad-ass women who can fix all the problems that they are given and still manage to enjoy themselves?
My all time favorite series is the Phryne Fisher series, which was also developed into an absolutely wonderful television show. This series is set in late 1920s Australia and is based around the character of the Honorable Phryne Fisher, who moved to Australia to escape her horrible parents, and ends up solving mysteries on the side. She is fabulously wealthy, exquisitely beautiful and smarter than everyone around her, and this series is full of cocktails, exquisite clothing and plenty of romantic dalliances to boot.
I haven’t finished the series, but I highly recommend starting with the first book, Cocaine Blues. Some other great books are Murder on the Ballarat Train, The Green Mill Murder, Blood and Circuses, The Castlemaine Murders and Death by Water.
However, I am 16 books in to this excellent 20 book series, and so I desperately need something to fill the fresh cookie gap once I have finished them.
To replace my beloved Phryne, I recently started reading the first book of a number of cozy mystery series I could find featuring female detectives.
I am here today to share some of the best of the best with you – as an added benefit, most of these are availible on Hoopla, Libby or at your local library, so you don’t need to go out and spend lots of money on quick, easy reads!
A Classic: Miss Marple
Agatha Christie’s detectives Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are without a doubt the archetypal murder mystery sleuths, but as much as I love Poirot and his “little grey cells”, my heart rests with Miss Marple and her quiet, no nonsense investigations. Agatha Christie was my first mystery author, and my favorite by far, and I highly encourage you to get to the south of England sometime for some literary tourism, as many of her novel locations and her actual house are open to visitors.
I highly recommend The Murder at the Vicarage, The 4:50 from Paddington, A Caribbean Mystery, The Body at the Library and A Murder is Announced.
As an added bonus, there are some great Miss Marple TV adaptations, although my favorite is probably Agatha Christie’s Marple.
A Slightly Darker Mystery: anything by Ann Cleeves
These veer slightly out of the “cozy” lane, but for quality, Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers. Her ability to make you picture her haunting landscapes and atmospheres is exceptional, and her mysteries, while more procedural and police based, still have an air of “cozy” about them.
She has two incredible series, one based around a “shabby” detective named Vera Stanhope, and one based in the Shetland Islands, and she has recently started a new series based in Devon that is equally promising.
Both Vera and the Shetland have been turned into great television shows as well.
A Mystery with Mummies: Amelia Peabody
Like Phryne Fisher, Amelia Peabody is independently wealthy, adventurous and charmingly bossy. Unlike Phryne, she is older, not at all fashionable, and her bossiness tends to frustrate rather than charm.
These books have the added appeal of being set in Egypt, where she encounters all sorts of adventures and explores the joys of split skirts and other “feminist” trappings of the late 1800s!
I will say that these books were written in the 70s, and poke fun at the adventure accounts of the turn of the century, so there is some racism inherent in the way Egyptians are portrayed that doesn’t quite hold up today.
A Singaporean Mystery: Aunty Lee
Aunty Lee is a wonderful character – sharp, nosy and fabulous at cooking as well as reading the people around her. This series is set in Singapore, and has all the wonderful social complexities that made Crazy Rich Asians such an enjoyable read.
The first mystery in this series, Aunty Lee’s Delights, is a solid, fun cozy mystery, although it didn’t blow my socks off. But the characters are so delightfully catty and entertaining that it promises great sequels!
An African Mystery: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
No list of cozy mysteries would be complete without the masterpiece that is Alexander McCall Smith’s detective Precious Ramotswe and her No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Set in Botswana, this series is full of heart, love and so much more. What I love the most is that most of these books are not centered on solving a murder as much as they are on the everyday life of a private detective and everyday cases like cheating spouses, thieving employees and missing persons. Very rarely is anyone in mortal danger, and most of the time they are able to solve the case while enjoying a nice hot cup of rooibos tea.
This also has a TV show adaptation out there that I highly recommend!
A Parody: Agatha Raisin
Agatha Raisin is clearly a fun and irreverent take on Miss Marple, and these silly mysteries are ridiculous and entertaining through and through. I haven’t read a lot of them, but the first is the hilariously titled Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death. I also very much enjoyed Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden, in which a hair dye fiasco causes her to take an impromptu “beach vacation” to a rainy coastal resort.
Like many of the books on this list, Agatha Raisin is ALSO a fun and entertaining television show.
A British “Jazz Age” Mystery: Maisie Dobbs/Daisy Dalrymple/Poppy Denby/Her Royal Spyness
Then there are the whole host of British murder mystery series set in the years between the two world wars, usually in London. These are all set in the 20s and 30s, and have lovely independent and feisty women striving to make it in a man’s world. My favorite of the books below is probably Death at Wentwater Court, but they are all solid female detective mysteries, and the choice of London between WW1 and WW2 is pretty fun.
The first books in these series are:
- Maisie Dobbs: Maisie Dobbs
- Daisy Dalrymple: Death at Wentwater Court
- Poppy Denby: The Jazz Files
- Lady Victoria Georgiana “Georgie” Charlotte Eugenie: Her Royal Spyness
A Trashy Mystery: Stephanie Plum
If contemporary books are more your thing, you can’t underestimate the absurd Stephanie Plum mysteries. If I’m honest, these are less of a homemade cookie and more of a really soft and sugary donut.
Set in New Jersey, this series stars a rather inept bail bondswoman, Stephanie Plum, and her entourage, which includes two incredibly attractive men vyying for her attention, a hamster and a reformed “how” names Lula who drives a red Firebird. Come for the laughs, and stay for the completely inappropriate yet always entertaining hijinks.
These books have been a mainstay of mine for years, and while I find that the books get pretty repetitive, which a lot of these do not, I still enjoy them from time to time.
Please chime in with your own favorite “freshly baked cookie” or “warm pot of tea” books, and I hope that you all have as much of a relaxing and enjoyable week as possible in the midst of everything. Hang in there, and remember to read the books that make you happy too!
